Hello loves! I'm sorry it took so long to update, and the chapter stills leaves off at a bit of a cliffhanger, but I figured giving you guys something was better than waiting longer! I'll get the next chapter up quicker, and that will tie some things off. Thank you all for your reviews, favorites and follows, I really appreciate it.

...

Feet pounding in an uneven rhythm against the river bank, Kili trodded on as quickly as his tired limbs would allow. Kili had been many different kinds of tired. Tired from too little food. Tired from a lack of sleep. Tired from fighting. Tired from walking for days on end. Poison, however, was a new kind of tired. He felt like something had been eating at his veins, draining his very life source. And he supposed, in a manner of speaking, it had been. Kili knew what it felt like to be dying, to feel your life leaking away, and it had already aged him. The true danger of their quest had sunken in, and the promise to his mother seemed foolish and near impossible to keep. The reality that he may never see the rest of his family again weighed heavily on his soul. The young Dwarf had not joined the company expecting the journey to be easy, but he had also not expected quite the amount of peril they had been thrust into so far. If it had not been for Tauriel..

The She-Elf was another thing that troubled him. Of all the Elves he had seen along their way, he had not found any of them to be particularly pleasing to the eye. But the fierceness of which Tauriel fought had been something to behold, and he had suddenly found her beardless, delicate features to be enchanting. He found he enjoyed nothing more than the small grin she had when she tried to hide that she thought him amusing. The clever light in her eyes and quick wit had left him speechless, as he had never encountered anything like her in his lifetime. Although Kili would never admit it, as he was ashamed to have thought such a thing, there had been a moment in the cells where he had felt as though he could be content to live out the rest of his days there, if it meant he could gaze upon the Elf with fiery red hair and starlight in her eyes. While he had only entertained the thought for a moment, it had overwhelmed him with guilty. The idea that he could abandon their quest, his family, was despicable. It had made him try to push the Elf from his mind, but to no avail. It wasn't as if Kili had never fancied anyone before, he had found many a Dwarf lass to be admirable. Maybe it was the adventure, the thrill of seeking, longing for someone so utterly unattainable.

Lost in his conflicted thoughts, his only other focus on putting one foot in front of the other, Kili did not hear the second set of footsteps join him on the bank. That is, until the sickening crack of an arrow making him in a thick skull sounded behind him. He spun, yanking the blade from his belt just in time to see an Orc tumble into the river. In a moment, and with the sound of brush being crushed under many pairs of feet, more Orcs surged from the tree line. Kili braced himself, blade held before him. Just as the first Orc was nearly upon him, another arrow flew over his head, sticking between the creatures eyes. Kili did not have to look behind him to know the shot had been fired from the bow of an Elf. The Orc fell, merely making way for the next, which lunged over it's dead comrade. The Dwarf met it with a swing of the dagger, slicing at it's stomach before rolling out of it's path. The action was painful, but Kili was soon on his feet once again, pivoting to face his foe. It was then that he saw the patrol of Elves merging with the Orcs. Their numbers were almost evenly matched, which meant the scum of Dol Guldor didn't stand a chance.

However, Kili didn't have time to watch the Elves in battle, as the Orc was throwing itself at him once again, weilding a crudely forged flail. His reflexes stunted, Kili didn't manage to duck quite fast enough, and one of it's spikes raked again his forehead. He stumbled back, regaining his balance just as the spiked ball sailed towards his head a second time. As painful as the action had been before, he opted to crouch and roll out of the Orc's path yet again, an action that seemed to befuddle the oaf as he merely stared at the space that had formerly been occupied by the Dwarf. Kili took the brief opportunity to run the blade across the back of it's thick knee. It cried out, an unnatural gurgling sound, and fell to it's knees. Kili lunged forward, jumping onto the creatures back and reaching round to pull the blade across it's neck. They both fell to the ground, Kili shuffling to the side as the creatures blood ran down the rocks. He turned, ready to face the next Orc. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a familiar blond Elf, with an arrow pointed at his head. For a moment, neither of them moved, two statues amongst the bloody chaos of the skirmish. It was over as quickly as it had come, the Elf tilting his aim just slightly and loosing an arrow over Kili's head, downing another Orc. As he finally righted himself, and turned to face the heart of the fight, he was only moderately surprised to see it was more or less over, and as a few of the Elves darted into the woods, he assumed the remaining Orcs had fled.

Before he could even think of surrendering, a thought that didn't exactly occur naturally and he was only doing so under Tauriel's instruction, several arrowheads pointed at him. Slowly, he held up the blade, before tossing it lightly to the ground and kicking it to the nearest Elf. It was the one who had fought the Orcs with Tauriel, the one called Legolas and the son of the king. He regarded the blade with what was nearly a confused expression, his nostrils flaring as he looked back to Kili. "Where did you get this, Dwarf?"

Kili examined the Elf, taking his sweet time in giving an answer. He couldn't help but wonder how he and Tauriel were involved, but from how he had regarded the dagger, Kili would have to guess they were close. Jealousy got the better of the young Dwarf, and he sneered at the Elf. "I gather you already know."

Legolas seemed less than pleased with this answer. In a swift movement he had snatched the blade from the ground and had it pressed to Kili's throat. "How did you come to have Tauriel's blade?"

"She gave it to me."

This answer by far pleased Legolas the least, and he pressed the blade just hard enough against Kili's throat to conjure up a drop of blood, which ran down the Dwarf's neck. He did not falter or flinch, however, and the Elf seemed to contemplate pulling the blade across his throat. One of the other's must have noticed, or just had impeccable timing, and spoke up. "Legolas, you cannot believe this weakened Dwarfling could have taken the blade from Tauriel. He can barely walk, and while he was able to take down and Orc, our Captain is a much harder task." Indeed Legolas did not think this, for it was jealousy that pressed against the blade, and not anger. What the Dwarf said was, unfortunately, the only logical explanation. Legolas doubted even if the Dwarf were in perfect health he could manage to somehow disarm Tauriel, she had been made Captain of the Guard for a reason, and the likelihood of her leaving it somewhere was even less so. Legolas knew that the fact that Tauriel had apparently given him her blade was no cause for his death, and begrudgingly withdrew the blade from the Dwarf's throat.

"Why have you come back?"

Be clever. Tauriel's words ran through Kili's mind as he deliberated an answer. None of his kin or comrades would have referred to Kili as clever, at least not of their own accord. He was young and, as his mother had said many times before, reckless. But even Kili knew what was at stake here, and he wasn't going to let some pompous Elven prince ruin his chances. "I have come to see your king."

Legolas sneered at that, finding the thought almost amusing. "And what business do you have with the king? Have you come to try and right your leader's foolishness?"

Kili's fists clenched at the jab at his uncle, but once again Tauriel's voice sounded in his mind. Keep your emotions in check. "The business I have is for the ears of your king. And trust me when I say, it is a matter of life and death."

Legolas did not seem convinced, but the murmurings amongst his companions signaled they were of a different mind. "That is out of the question. No one but those on patrol are allowed through the gates."

"But if the Dwarf speaks the truth.."

"And if he lies?"

The Elf which had spoken stepped forward, placing a hand on Legolas's shoulder. "Then it will be his head." The Elven prince seemed decently satisfied with that response, and two of the company stepped forward, grabbing Kili by either arm.

...

While Kili had put up quite a fuss about being more or less carried by the Elves back to Mirkwood, in truth it had been a welcome relief to his injured leg. It was also probably a lot faster than letting him walk on his own and have to set their pace to match his, which worked in his advantage as well. The longer he has to speak with Thranduil, the better.

The seemed to reach the gate in no time at all, and the Elves carrying Kili dropped him rather abruptly on the hard dirt path. As the Dwarf righted himself, Legolas motioned him forward. Kili walked with surprising steadiness to the front of the group, and was greeted by a rather unamused blonde She-Elf. "Legolas, what is the meaning of this? Why have you brought one of Durin's sons back to our halls? You know that your father has forbidden anyone entry."

Much to Kili's bewilderment, Legolas looked almost embarassed as the She-Elf spoke, and answered with a somewhat apologetic tone. "The Dwarf claims to have urgent business with the king, and while I'm not sure I believe him.. He did have this." Kili glared in frustration as Legolas revealed Tauriel's blade, silently cursing them for speaking in Elvish instead of the common tongue. He not only wished to know if the conversation would turn in his favor, but who the She-Elf was and why she seemed to have such a humbling effect on the Elven Prince.

After she had thoroughly examined the blade, her keen eyes searched the faces of the party. "This is Tauriel's blade, but she is not among you. Not, to my knowledge, is she within the halls of Mirkwood." Her eyes turned to Kili with so intent a gaze he felt as though he stood naked before her. "How did an injured Dwarf come to have this blade?"

Before Kili could answer, Legolas piped up, once again in Elvish. "He claims that Tauriel gave it to him, and unless she was severely injured... I see no other explanation."

"You mean you do not know if Tauriel is safe?"

"The two of us followed the Orc pack to Laketown, where we were separated. Once the filth were dealt with, I returned, believing Tauriel would have done the same. Before reaching Mirkwood, I was greeted by the patrol. They had seen no sign of Tauriel, and we assumed her to be hunting the Orcs within our borders, and set out to do the same. We came upon a group of them just as they attacked the Dwarf."

The She-Elf listened without interruption, however her eyes never relented in their current study of Kili. He didn't doubt she had noticed every minuscule flinch at Tauriel's name. "And Do you know of Tauriel's whereabouts, young Dwarf?"

Kili straightened up as she addressed him directly, and with a question Legolas couldn't answer for him. "Tauriel remains in Laketown."

"And do you know why?"

When Kili refused to answer by way of remaining silent, Legolas spoke up once again, thankfully speaking in the common tongue. "There were rumblings from the mountain." Kili and the She-Elf had near-comically similar reactions to this statement, both turning to give him somewhat baffled looks (Kili more so, of course).

"Why did you not mention this before, Legolas?" Before the Prince could manage an explanation, the She-Elf turned back to Kili, kneeling before him much as Tauriel had, an action that very obviously shocked the other Elves. "She sent you, didn't she?"

Kili regarded her with suspicion, something that came naturally around Elves. After a moment he noticed something in her expression that reminded him alarmingly so of Tauriel. Not in physicality, no. Her gaze had the same something Tauriel's had when she had asked him to go to Mirkwood. An unchecked passion for doing the right thing, and like they somehow understood the world so much better than everyone else. It was due to this shocking similarity that he gave a small nod, which set several things in motion.

First, Legolas gained a slightly enraged expression, his cheeks reddening to a delicate shade of pink, while in contrast his lips pressed into a thin, white line. This would have amused Kili, had he noticed, but instead he watched as the She-Elf stood and spun around, demanding that the Gatekeepers allow them entry, which they did after just a moments hesitation. The rest of the Elves in the patrol were just as shocked as Legolas, however instead of anger they now regarded the Dwarf with a bit of curiosity, no doubt wondering what their captain had sent him to do. Kili was confused as well, wondering what it was about She-Elves that made them seem to know so much more than everyone else. The entire befuddled party followed the She-Elf through the winding halls of Mirkwood, stopping only when they reached King Thraduil, sitting upon his throne.

The first thing the King did after taking in the sight before him, was to glare at his son. Kili had seen that look many times. one that held a seemingly immeasurable amount of disappointment and just a touch of anger. He imagined he saw it more often than Legolas did, but he also had a feeling Thranduil was less prone to praise or a relieved hug when Legolas came home safely than Thorin was. The king's gaze then turned to the She-Elf, whom he addressed with a more resigned expression. "Dinel, why have you and Legolas brought this Dwarvish filth before me? I made my position quite clear to their leader, and my mind is not changed. I also made it quite clear no one was to cross our borders, so unless he was found lurking within our halls- I am waiting for an explanation."

Both the She-Elf, apparently called Dinel, and Legolas stepped forward, prepared to speak. Before either was able to utter a single syllable, Kili practically shouted behind them. "The Dragon has awoken!" For a moment, the room echoed with dead silence, and all eyes turned to the Dwarf. The Elves of the Guard were shocked although not entirely surprised. Legolas looked like he wanted nothing more than to strangle him, but Dinel looked almost proud. And in that moment, when no eyes but Kili's were upon the king, terror flashed across Thranduil's face.

However, the king swiftly composed himself, standing and making his way down from the throne. He did not stop until he stood before Kili, towering over him. "And have you fled to avoid it's fire? Have you abandoned your kin for fear of the beast's wrath? It is not greatly spoken of, the courage of Dwarves. Perhaps, because there is not much to speak of."

Kili's very being screamed against the king's words. He wished to say that the Elves had not shown much in the way of courage, that at least his people had fought the best instead of cowering in their home. He wanted to defend his uncle, who was the bravest Dwarf he knew, and defend the name of Durin. In the end, however, Tuariel's words and the urgency of the situation held his tongue for him. "I have been sent to request sanctuary for the women, children and elderly of Laketown."

The king barked out a cold laugh, causing Kili to flinch. "And who sent you? The Master?"

"Tauriel."

...

Hello hi yes don't hate me for leaving it off there. Also, yes we will at some point find out who Dinel is (but let's face it we need some more female characters and she was poking at my brain demanding to be added).